Grand Prix 2012 Australian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Gentleman, start your engines

Despite it feeling only a few weeks since the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix last November the Australian Grand Prix is coming very quickly into view to start of a season which hopefully promises to be a lot closer than the 2011 season where Sebastian Vettel ran away with the Championship and had it virtually won by mid season.

Looking at testing and it is virtually impossible to see who is in the best shape going into the season opener apart from that Mclaren and Red Bull are the two teams in the best shape which really isn't surprising but the big surprise is the continual lack of pace from Ferrari despite a radical new car (the issues I commented on on a previous thread).

As for the midfield it is anyone's guess as all the midfield have all been up and down the testing rankings throughout the winter and it'll only be qualifying where we see a true reflection of where the grid is in terms of reliability. Without a doubt Lotus have had the most work to do after they had to make a major chassis change involving suspension mounts which meant abandoning one of the test sessions but that doesn't seem to have had a major effect on the team and with Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel it is hoped that they can challenge Mercedes after a fairly disappointing 2011 after a strong start.

Once again HRT are the joke of the entire grid as they once again go into the first race of the season without having so much as turned the wheel before after crash test problems earlier this year and it will be a miracle if they actually qualify as they failed to do so in Melbourne in 2011, but they could be joined by Marussia who have also had problems with their new car and have had to test with a modified 2011 car recently and they will also be struggling to even qualify for Melbourne which isn't good news for the team unless they can pull a rabbit out of the hat with the new car.

This seasons cars (apart from Mclaren) are characterised by the distinctive stepped nose due to new regulations about front wing height and this is how the vast majority of teams have interpreted this rule and it seems that only Mclaren are running a 'smooth' nose and it remains to be seen whether this was a correct decision and one that can mean they can challenge for the title after an average 2011 (unless you're Button of course)

For the British viewers 2012 is going to be a completely different viewing experience as Formula One is going to be broadcast on satellite television for the first time. When it was announced that Sky would be broadcasting F1 with BBC showing only half of the races (live) it was met with uproar from all quarters but as more details have been announced, many fans (me included) are rather looking forward to the full F1 package that is being provided this season with the F1 channel being launched in a matter of days!

For Galahads brilliant circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/melbourne-grand-prix-circuit-albert-park/
 
Is it just me who think Red Bull are more likely to go backwards than forwards tomorrow. Sandwiched between the two fastest cars in a straight line. I think if they don't have the pace right now, it will show even more in the race.
 
Good Morning Everyone!
Beautiful morning in Melbourne today, not a cloud in the sky hoping to hit 27C today!
Question:How far can Kimi Raikkonen make his way up the grid during the race today from 17th on the grid
My guess-12th
 
I've now finished watching Practice sessions and Qualifying, and wow, what a great start to the year!

McLaren on top isn't a surprise, although I expected them to be joined by Red Bull, which were quite lacklustre.
Great performance by Grosjean! But I can't say I was surprised, in the sense that he beat Raikkonen squarely in FP3 and did a lot more running. Still I didn't think he'd be so high :)
I thought Mercedes would have a slow start to the season, clearly I was wrong! Their true pace remains to be seen, and we've yet to know if they will kill their tyres on the race tomorrow, but things are looking good for them. If they can keep their form up, this will be the "make or break" year for Rosberg - will he win a race? Will he be a contender for the championship, or instead crumble under pressure?
Ferrari... I never thought they'd be this far off. I don't know how Alonso or Massa will finish the race tomorrow if their car is as unstable as it seems. Also, Massa's pace seems terrible...
Williams surprised me with their pace, Maldonado did a great job in this session. Toro Rosso, Sauber and Force India all look evenly matched - even though I think Sauber's true pace hasn't translated well into grid position (in Q1 they were flying, but in Q2 they barely ran...)
Caterham, on the other hand, are a second off what I expected. Hope they up their game. I love Kovi's helmet design, btw!
Neither Marussia nor HRT surprised me with their performance.

Prediction for tomorrow has to be a McLaren win. Which driver, I don't know. Expecting to see Kimi and the Sauber guys to make up places in the race; Alonso is an unknown variable to me right now.
 
The real unsprprise so far this year (!) is that Mercedes engines are excellent with Mac and Merc, what's surprising is that FI aren't really keeping station with them.

Ferrari engine-wise, a real surprise is that both the ToroRosso outqualified both the Ferrari 'A' (works) team and both the Saubers as well (even before Perez' 5-place grid drop for a new gearbox) - when did that last happen?

Renault engines were a mixed bag, outstanding Grosjean, very good Maldonado, good Senna, poor RedBull by their stellar standards, Caterham more or less where you'd expect but at least 2 seconds ahead of the only running Cosworth team.
 
Ferrari engine-wise, a real surprise is that both the ToroRosso outqualified both the Ferrari 'A' (works) team and both the Saubers as well (even before Perez' 5-place grid drop for a new gearbox) - when did that last happen?

To be facetious, Ferrari started on the back row at Monaco in 2006 for various reasons, so their customers RBR outqualified them then. Sort of.

Toro Rosso double outqualified Ferrari at Monza in 2008 (but Force India didn't).

Perez didn't outqualify Massa because he didn't run in Q2. The only people Felipe Massa beat either didn't run, slowed down in expectation of another lap (thus did his lap on primes) or were the 'new' teams!
 
To be facetious, Ferrari started on the back row at Monaco in 2006 for various reasons, so their customers RBR outqualified them then. Sort of.

Toro Rosso double outqualified Ferrari at Monza in 2008 (but Force India didn't).

Perez didn't outqualify Massa because he didn't run in Q2. The only people Felipe Massa beat either didn't run, slowed down in expectation of another lap (thus did his lap on primes) or were the 'new' teams!

Oh well, never let the facts get in the way of a good story !!!!
 
What I mean is that q3 is where the drivers go as fast as they dare, q2, and 1, not a big gap but there doesn't have to be

In q3, Lewis' best lap was better than Jensons despite the latter having a second chance with new tyres
Therefore Lewis could have gone even faster relatively
But he didn't did he? he went slower in the first sector on his second run and at this point he must have known that Button was faster than his first attempt which means he abandoned the lap because he couldn't make up the difference it was just lucky for him that Jenson made a mistake in the last sector or he would not have been on pole.

They both had two shots at pole Button's first was pants and Hamilton's second was pants I don't understand what you mean by saying "despite Jenson having a second chance" :dunno: like I said they both had two runs.

Your assertions make no sense my friend..
 
Jenson had 2 q3 runs

Lewis had 1 q3 run

Lewis was faster even at first

1,2,3 go

1 get ready, 2 for show etc etc

or maybe you are right, maybe Jenson was faster but didn't get a chance to prove it
 
You are correct Lewis was faster at first but he made a mistake in his second run meaning it was pointless to complete it, there is no doubt that if you look at the stats Jenson completed two runs and Lewis completed only one but Lewis abandoned his second run in Q3 because he couldn't beat his first run time, so saying he could have gone faster when he didn't or couldn't is a nonsense.

I'm guessing you see it differently?

Actually if you want to be pedantic he actually proved he couldn't go faster by the fact that he tried and failed, whereas Button did go faster on his second run, not that, that says much as Jenson's first run wasn't up to much.

Edit

I never said Jenson was faster over a single lap because judging by their qually records over the last two years that is obviously not true..
 
He had Schumi Rosberg Button Webber and Grosjean finish before him and go slower, Vettel had no pace at all and No ferrari's williams weren't a threat and neither were Toro Rosso so Hamilton could afford to come in
 
Didn't I see a post earlier that said Lewis' sector times had been off his pole pace so there was no point in finishing.

Obviously it would be nice if he had felt finishing the lap was unneccessary, but more likely, bearing in how close he was to Jensen, that he just wasn't going to improve on his time.
 
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